Week 10, chapter 16

 “People fear death even more than pain. It’s strange that they fear death. Life hurts a lot more than death. At the point of death, the pain is over. Yeah, I guess it is a friend.” – Jim Morrison  
     The ending chapter of Human development life-span view ended on the topic of “the final passage” death. Our book followed the ideal stages of life, prenatal devolvement through old age and now death. Like stated in the podcast, death is something that can happen at any time, at any age. It may seem like stating the obvious but I think that many people believe that if a person dies before they hit old age they suffered a “ pre mature death” or that they were robbed of their “time”. Yet no one is guaranteed any amount of time in this life, a good reminder to live a full, happy life daily.
     Death is such a fascinating topic to me, and has been for many years now.  I have spent many years battling the topic of religion, many years researching and looking into different types of beliefs. I found that death and beliefs of afterlife play a major role in majority of religions and how the follows of those beliefs live their day to day life. I took note that despite many religious beliefs that majority of people fear the inevitable, most humans fear or previously have feared death. Even after reading the ten different ways death can be viewed, most of them have fearful or negative associations;  this seems true across many cultures and religions.  Death doesn’t have to be a bad event, or a sad event. I have been to funerals that were tragic and heart wrenching, where you left the event sick and unsettled. I have been to funerals that were, do I dare say happy and joyful, leaving after celebrating a loved one’s life with laughter and love. It is all about peoples perspectives; they say life is what you make it, why can’t death be what you make it too? After all, it just might be a friend.

Week 9

      I currently work as homes care aid for the department of developmental disabilities. In order to receive my certification I had to undergo training. A week work of the training was focused on dementia. In our classes we spent a brief period of time overviewing the disorder and more time learning how to care and manage the behavior of  victims of dementia,  Alzheimer’s disease in particularly. I was interested in seeing how the books description of the different types of disorders associated with dementia were similar or differed from the training I received.
     Majority of aging adult (especially seen in those with children, grandchildren or spouses) will spend time worrying about the possibilities of devolving Alzheimer’s.  As we have read one of the greatest things about aging is being able to sit back and enjoy ones accomplishments in life. People who develop this disease have trouble recalling their location and time; enjoying their life accomplishments seem out of the question for victims of this form of dementia.  With the onset of this disease memory starts to gradually decline, learning skills are impaired,  self-care skills decrease many cannot care for their own personal needs, often times needing assistance with everyday activities.
   The process of diagnosing Alzheimer’s was interesting and new knowledge to me. You would think that since the disease is very common ( about 4.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s) it would be diagnosed with ease and maybe even over diagnosed.
   Although this section included ample information, it would have been nice to see more about the effects on the family of victims as well as elaborated more on treatment, behavioral treatment especially.

Week 8

Chapter 12 discussed both work and leisure. This is a good topic for most of us, as we are all receiving our educations in hopes of going into specific careers. In the two quarters that I have attended BTC I have took note that many of my classmates have jobs and family life. Many of them also have little down or “leisure” time. The discussion of both topics I think is crucial because I think many people spend plenty of time working at little time leisurely; not knowing or acknowledging the importance of it.  
      Work and family can involve one individual juggling many roles and tasks. Take a new mother for instance, since half of all mothers return to work before their child reaches their first birthday.  She may have previously juggled the act of being an employee and a wife, after having giving birth she now has many more acts added to her routine. She now has to make a decision on whether she is finally equipped to be a stay at home mother, or if she must return to work. After that decision is made then comes the choice of alternate childcare, who will care for her child, can she afforded alternate care ,  if not does she qualify for government assistance? Balancing a household, a relationship, work and motherhood can be a rewarding yet tiring and emotionally draining task.
    For a situation like the one above, where does that leisure time we were speaking of come into play? It may seem for someone who is busy with that many responsibilities it would be impossible to add something else to their plate, even if it is time for enjoyment. But that must change, due to the fact that this time doing an activity, “veritably any activity”, contributes greatly to the overall well-being of a person’s life. Time management is essential in balancing family work and time for oneself.